WILLIAMSON COUNTY, Ill. (WSIL) -- Jeffrey Jenkins hasn't used the front door to leave his home for almost a week.
Since he was shot in his back left shoulder, Jenkins uses the back door. It keeps him out of the view of his neighbor across the street.
Jenkins, who owns homes and a horse stable on his property on Maverick Road, says his neighbor George Modlin tried to kill him.
"He never should've been released," Jenkins said. "Absolutely not. That was lame."
Last Thursday, Jenkins called police just before 1 p.m. to complain about Modlin doing 'donuts' on the road with his all-terrain vehicle. When police left, Jenkins returned to his lawnmower to finish cutting the grass.
"Then I crossed the road and I came up this driveway," Jenkins said. "That's when I felt the punch on my left shoulder."
The force from the shot jolted Jenkins forward, he says, causing him to hit a lever on his 'zero-turn' mower. Jenkins described the pain as a punch combined with a bee sting and adds that he's lucky to be alive. But one sentence, two words haunt him: 'What if?'
"What if he would've hit three inches lower and got into my lung? I could be dead," Jenkins said. "Had he hit me in the spine, I may be in a wheelchair the rest of my life. How do you deal with that everyday?"
Jenkins immediately called 9-1-1 and told police Modlin shot him. When officers arrived, they questioned Modlin while Jenkins waited to drive himself to the hospital.
"What's taking so long?" Jenkins said. "Why isn't he handcuffed and gone? As I'm in pain."
The shooting isn't a random act, Jenkins said. He believes it stems from an eviction notice he sent to Modlin in July. Prior to the notice, Jenkins said he tried to clean debris left outside Modlin's home. That's when, Jenkins says, Modlin threatened him.
"It'll take five minutes and I'll be pulling it down the road," Jenkins recounted telling Modlin. "He said 'No man. You know what? Step off your tractor I'm going to kick your ass.'"
Jenkin says the eviction notice was the last straw and believes that gave Modlin an intention to kill him. Modlin is being charged with aggravated battery by use of a deadly weapon, a Class 3 Felony. But Jenkin's believes Modlin should be charged with attempted murder.
Jenkins says there's lingering pain that goes to his hands each time he lifts his arm. Gauze pads and tape cover up the stitched wound. Jenkins couldn't dodge the bullet but he did dodge death. For now. Jenkins wonders how long that will last.
"He has bows and arrows. I'm waiting for an arrow to come flying by," Jenkins said. "I wouldn't know if they did come flying by. I'll only know if they hit me."
News 3 spoke to Modlin at his home. Modlin says the shooting was an accident that happened as he was taking target practice in his backyard. Modlin adds that anything Jenkins says about him is a lie.
Modlin's preliminary hearing is happening October 27 at the Williamson County Courthouse.
